BioPower to install pilot wave unit off Aussie coast in Dec - report

Australian firm BioPower Systems Pty Ltd is getting ready to deploy in December its 250-kW prototype wave power unit off Port Fairy in the southeastern state of Victoria, national public broadcaster ABC reports.

The AUD-21-million (USD 15m/EUR 13.8m) project involves the installation of a device with a 26-metre steel structure that sways back and forth below the ocean surface. Following next month’s deployment, researchers will monitor the unit’s capabilities for a period of 12 months.

The company’s goal is to design a 1-MW commercial-scale version of the BioWave unit. However, CEO Timothy Finnigan said, as cited by the ABC, that he does not expect BioPower to have a commercially available product at the end of the trial, because costs are still too high.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.715/EUR 0.658)

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